Mushishi Kimora
by moonlightsparkle
Summary: Ginko has an apprentice named Kimora who is also a mushishi and like him, travels and helps those in need of her specialized help. -two one-shots-
1. The Drought

**A/N: here it is! The first chapter of my first fanfic! Hopefully you guys enjoy it and don't think it's too…unoriginal (is that a word?) or boring. I think the fanfic is probably going to slightly mimic the anime's format of separate adventures in each episode or in this case chapters, whatever the case review please!**

_Chapter 1: The Drought_

When you're walking through the forest, and it seems to be too silent to be natural you can be sure that you are being honoured with the presence of something that you probably aren't accustomed to. They are beings in touch with the essence of life, far more basic and pure than the creatures that walk the earth with humans. The mysterious beings in question are known as mushi to the few who can see them and to the people who can't, they are seen as natural phenomenon or simply not at all. The mushi are small spirit creatures that can inhabit the bodies of humans and animals alike and unleash havoc upon them.

…………………………….

Kimora wasn't surprised at the sudden silence in the forest. She was used to it. She knew it was a package deal when you were a mushishi who had learnt from Ginko himself about the mysterious and evasive creatures known as the mushi. After he had taught her all that he knew, she had decided to follow in his footsteps and travel, helping people with problems concerning mushi that she met.

A sudden rustle in the nearby trees startled Kimora and she looked up from the forest floor to see a young boy looking back at her with dull grey eyes. She watched as he tentatively walked towards her and as she watched him stumble and stop every few steps as if listening to something she realized the boy couldn't see. She wondered what his eye colour had been because it certainly couldn't have been grey, at least not with his complexion. Kimora finally noticed that the boy had stopped right in front of her and had his face tilted upwards.

"Please, can you help me? I can't see anymore. In fact, the entire village has gone blind. Please?" the little boy asked.

Rather surprised at the request she said, "Well first things first, my name is Kimora. What's yours?" as she spoke, she bent down and balanced on her feet.

"Oh…my name is Daichi," the boy replied shyly, the urgency of his request had given him a boost of courage that was beginning to wear off.

Kimora stood back up and asked the boy, "Do you want a piggy-back ride?" at this, the boy looked upward (or rather tilted his head upwards since he couldn't see) and nodded hopefully. She smiled and scooped the boy up and plopped him on her shoulders.

"Okay. So where is this village of yours Daichi-kun?" Kimora asked her brown-haired companion when she realized that she had no idea where to go (after turning around 5 times and then looking at the sky).

"Wait. Stand still for a second! I need to get my bearings," he paused while Kimora stood stalk still and then he pointed to their right, "That way," he said confidently.

Kimora kept walking, stopping every now and then to listen to Daichi's directions so that she didn't stray off the course he had set her on. When they arrived at the village gates, Kimora was shocked to see that all the villagers had dull grey eyes and weren't doing too well without their eyesight. The lack of it was taking a toll on them and visible signs of scrapes and bruises from falls were apparent on everyone.

Setting Daichi down she spoke, "Daichi-kun, would it be possible for you to tell me a bit more about this mysterious blindness?" she asked tentatively, "Oh and not near the village please," she hastily added. Daichi had a slightly confused look on his face as he nodded and turned around. He began walking in the other direction and Kimora hastily followed.

When Daichi was satisfied with the location he hesitantly fumbled around and found a boulder to sit on. Kimora sat on the boulder across from him and setting down her bag asked him, "When did it all start?"

Daichi replied, "It began last summer, right after the big drought that happened. I remember because our neighbour was the first one to have symptoms. We never suspected it back then only because he was so old vision loss seemed natural. When the kids that used to visit him everyday after school began to loose their vision one by one, the parents got worried and forbade anyone from visiting him again. The children's parent lost their eyesight too and eventually everyone had lost their eyesight," Daichi looked frustrated and gave a sigh before he continued, "It's all my fault. I'm the one who told them to visit him and help him out at home by doing little chores since he couldn't see anymore and then when they became blind, everyone began to blame me," at this point, Daichi looked on the verge of tears.

"Is that the reason why you came to me looking for help?" Kimora asked him gently. Daichi sadly nodded and Kimora continued, "Judging from what I know so far, I think I might be able to help your village."

Daichi's head shot up and he looked (as well as he could without his eyesight) towards her eagerly and asked "What can I do to help?"

Kimora stared at the forest floor thoughtfully. "If this is what I think it is then what we need to do right now is go back to the village. Do you remember how to get back?" Daichi nodded and then got up and started to walk away only to stop after a few steps making Kimora bump into him. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"I was just wondering…could I have another ride? It was fun sitting on your shoulders, I felt tall," when Kimora didn't reply Daichi blushed and said, "Well of course you don't have too I just thought it was real-" the rest of his sentence was cut off when Kimora swept the little boy into her arms and set him on her shoulders. "Thank you Kimora-san!" Daichi cried and happily pointed out the directions for Kimora.

When they got to the village, Kimora lifted Daichi off her shoulders and walked into the gates with him. "Would it be okay to speak with your village leader?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course! They're my parents," he replied and pulling on her hand the little brown-haired fellow led her to his home. As she walked into the house, a woman wearing a pretty blue kimono walked towards her.

"Hello, my name is Kimora and I'm a mushishi," Kimora introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Minako and am I right in assuming that you are the one the Daichi believes will cure our blindness?" Minako had a very welcoming voice and gesturing with her hand for Kimora to follow her she turned and walked into one of the rooms.

"Do you have any ideas as to how this problem came about Kimora-san?" Minako asked after they had settled into seats each with a glass of tea in front of them and Daichi off in the yard.

"I think I know what the problem is and part of the answer lies in when the first case occurred. Daichi-kun says that it started after the large drought last summer. Am I correct in assuming that your neighbour did a lot of work out in the fields?" asked Kimora.

"Well, actually, yes as a matter of fact he did," Minako replied a little surprised.

"As you probably know, there is fluid in the eyes, and this fluid is constantly being drained and cleaned. The tiny vessels the fluid is drained into can be clogged very easily. I think that when your neighbour was out working after the drought, there were mushi that were very thirsty that needed fluid to live in and feed out of," at this, Minako looked outraged and Kimora hastily added, "We shouldn't blame the mushi, they are only trying to survive like us," and Minako calmed down as she nodded.

Kimora continued, "Our eye is probably one of the most well protected things that we have. It is constantly being cleaned from our blinking and every single time we blink, a new layer of fluid is spread over our eyes. The mushi probably saw it as a chance for very good living conditions since there are tiny organisms floating around in the fluid and it will never get cold there unless we die so the mushi decided to move homes. The reason you became blind is probably because the mushi have become so great in number that they have disturbed the flow of the fluid and have caused a build-up in fluid. This creates pressure that damages your sensitive optic nerves and damages your eyesight," Kimora was confident about her analysis of the situation and Minako seemed very impressed with the conclusion.

"I only have one more question," Minako said, "If that's how our neighbour lost his vision, then how did all the young ones who went to help him become blind as well?" Kimora smiled, "The mushi in question need fluid to live and there are water molecules in the air, the mushi can easily move through the air to another person's eyes."

Minako's expression went from questioning to shocked and she stood up, "But that means that your vision is in danger! You'll lose your vision if you stay any longer!" Minako was clearly distressed about the thought that their only saviour was in danger of loosing her eye sight.

Kimora laughed and said, "Don't worry about me I'm a mushishi! I wouldn't have entered your village if I wasn't protected against this mysterious mushi. I can cure your village in ten minutes if you get them all gathered at your house," at her words Minako rushed off to get the villagers.

…………………………….

Kimora laughed, "Thank you Daichi-kun! I really don't think I would have made it to the edge of the forest without getting lost," she laughed again.

"Kimora-oneesan, are you really leaving now?" Kimora nodded and lifted Daichi off her shoulders.

He looked back at her with his bright green eyes and Kimora sighed, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. If anything goes wrong you can contact me at this address," she handed him a slip of paper.

"Thank you for your help oneesan! I think everyone's a lot happier now that they can see again," he said happily.

Kimora smiled and tousled Daichi's already tousled light brown hair, "I'm sure they are. I have to get going now. Make sure everyone stays healthy okay?" after Daichi nodded Kimora swept him up and twirled him around before setting him back onto the ground. "Good-luck and good-bye!" and with that, Kimora turned around and walked away whistling, and Daichi walked back to his village, and back to his newly gained friends.

…………………………….

**A/N: hope you liked it! Let me know what you think through by reviewing anything is appreciated!**

**Michnelle**


	2. The Buttercup Path

**A/N: here's the second chapter for you guys. I've got 3 reviews which is awesome so keep up the good work guys xD (I'm not trying to be sarcastic, honest. I really appreciate those of you that actually review).**

_**Chapter 2: The Buttercup Path**_

Kimora had her hair in a ponytail that swung around as she walked on the path in the buttercup field. She sniffed the air and paused to watch a butterfly flutter its wings as it made a twirling trip from one flower to another. As Kimora continued to walk, she noticed the lack of children playing in the fields which surprised her seeing as the letter she had received had come from a village leader. If there was a village leader then there should've been a village, if there was a village then there should've been people, if there were people then there should've been children, if there were children then…where the heck were they?

Slightly wary at the lack of children she pondered over the note she had received. Stopping for a moment she rummaged through her light pack for the note. When she found she unfolded it and read it over:

_Dear Mushishi-san,_

_I am a village leader and I have an interesting situation you might like to see. I am hoping you can make it to my humble village in time before the first flood comes. I believe only you will be able to fully understand the condition my village is in just like you will probably be the only one who will take all the circumstances into account._

After that there had been a signature of a certain person named Hiroshi. Kimora shook her head sadly at how fast she had packed up her stuff and left the little town she had been staying at (visiting an old friend). The person obviously either knew her too well (potential stalker spotted) or just knew how to pique someone's interest. She sincerely hoped it was the latter. If it was the first, maybe someone had given Hiroshi the information. It had to be that or he was just very good at figuring out the general personalities of mushishi. Another possibility was that he was a stalker. That probably wasn't the truth. At least Kimora hoped not.

Kimora looked up from the ground when she realized that she was no longer walking on a soft grassy path but a short, rocky dirt one that led to a small village's gates. There was a young man standing there waving at her. A little confused, she walked a bit faster so that she could get to the gates. When she got there the young man introduced him as Hiroshi's assistant. Kimora looked at the man more closely and noticed a strange yellow tint to his skin. Slightly apprehensive, her expression became more and more solemn as she walked through the village. When she had finally arrived at the village leader's house she had seen enough to make her seriously concerned about the current state of affairs in the village. More than 50 of the villagers had a noticeable tint of yellow in their skin.

As the young assistant ushered her in she took another look at the villagers who were near the house and wasn't surprised to see that she wasn't imagining the yellow tint similar to the buttercups in the field she had been walking in. After she had been introduced to Hiroshi formally, he thanked her multiple times for coming and each time Kimora smiled modestly and insisted that it hadn't been a problem because, well, it hadn't. Hiroshi led her to the inner courtyard of his house and asked his assistant to bring chairs and some of the 'specialty' tea. After the assistant had brought the tea and left them to converse, Hiroshi's expression became one of extreme graveness.

"I'm not going to waste any time with formalities or small talk Kimora-san. I believe that the lives at stake are too important for me to waste time talking about the weather," after pausing to gauge Kimora's reaction to the bluntness of his words he continued after she nodded for him to go on, "I don't really know when this started but for the longest time, all the villagers have been born normal and then they gradually take on a strange yellow tint to their skin. I don't know why this is but I have reason to believe that it has something to do with the small population of the villagers here. Most of us only live up to age 40 at most and yet we're almost completely normal until the last few months before death."

At this Kimora frowned and asked her first question, "By _almost_ completely normal…what exactly do you mean by that?"

Hiroshi looked at his cup of tea thoughtfully and spoke again, "We've always had a darker skin colour because we work in the fields a lot but up until now we still don't know why we die so quickly. We didn't realize that we were supposed to live for much longer than 40 years. I only found out when a visitor happened to come by and noticed the strange tint in our skin. He could see that there weren't any elderly villagers and he asked me about it out of pure curiosity. It's a good thing that he did because when I pointed out to him our village elders he seemed shocked. When I asked him about it he said 'but those people aren't even in their 50's!' He then asked me about the average lifespan of an adult in our village and when I told him he looked at me like I was growing three heads and had lobsters falling out of my ears."

Kimora smiled and nodded, "I can see why he would," she laughed.

Hiroshi laughed along with her and said, "I'm not exactly sure why it didn't come to me at first. Now that I think about it, it doesn't make sense for humans to only be able to live for 40 years and then die off in this day and age. Now the big question is how all these people are dying," at this Hiroshi looked at Kimora expectantly.

She took a moment to think before answering, "I still have one more question for you," Hiroshi gestured for her to continue, "You also said that they were almost normal until a few months before they died. What happened then?"

Hiroshi swirled the contents of his teacup thoughtfully before answering, "It was very gradual so that by the time we realized what was happening, the poor person was too far gone to save. We later realized that it started a few months before death very gradually until it got to the point that it had visible effects. The person in question would get yellower slowly everyday until it was so apparent that everyone could see it. By that time, it would be too late for the person and everyone always knew who was going to die by looking at their skin. You can't really see it in the children since they are still very young and have barely any tint at all," Hiroshi sighed sadly and shook his head slowly.

Kimora's heart went out to the poor man and she knew that she had to do something at least to save the children if the adults couldn't be saved. Before she could do that she still needed one more piece of information. As she finally lifted her teacup of the so-called 'specialty' tea she realized something was dreadfully wrong. "What kind of tea is this?" Kimora tentatively asked Hiroshi.

He smiled before answering, "Why that's our 'specialty' tea. It's usually kept a secret from outsiders but I'll let you in on the secret," at this Hiroshi winked at Kimora before continuing, "It's actually buttercup tea. We use the flower petals and some of the nectar too for the tea. We also use the leaves as flavouring for a lot of our cooking. Since we have a large field of it, no one ever suspects a thing," as he continued to explain, Kimora's eyes widened more and more.

She began to shake her head fervently mumbling, "Oh no oh no oh no!" to herself.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered something else about the time that the people die off at. It's always just before the buttercups in the huge field are about to bloom."

Sure of her horrible conclusion she realized there was still one missing puzzle piece, "How come there aren't any children playing in the field? I walked through the buttercup field and I didn't see a single soul."

Hiroshi laughed, "Of course you wouldn't! All the villagers work in the larger more secluded field at the other side of the village. The kids all go there to play too!" Kimora's expression wasn't a hard one to read at this point in the conversation. It was one of extreme shock and dismay. When Hiroshi finally noticed and asked her what was wrong, Kimora could only shake her head slowly, back and forth.

"I think I know why a lot of your villagers are dying off so early. You actually have mushi to thank for that. Otherwise this village wouldn't be a village at all. It would be a sparse wasteland. The first thing you should do right now is to stop drinking the tea and tell the villagers to stop working and slaving over the buttercups. The important thing is getting them out of that field. They really shouldn't keep slaving over something they won't need anymore," after telling Hiroshi that, he called for his assistant and told him to do as she had directed. Once that was done, Hiroshi looked at Kimora questioningly.

"The reason why your villagers turn yellow before they die, and die before they're 41 is because of the buttercups that you drink with your tea and eat with your food. I don't know what gave you the idea of using buttercups for tea and cooking but that was probably the worst mistake you'll ever make in your life. In case you don't know, buttercups are one of the inedible and poisonous flowers that exist. Luckily for you, the mushi that are living in those buttercups have saved your village from dying out completely. They feed off the toxins in the buttercups but even the biggest of those mushi can't drain the buttercup of all of its toxins. The leftover toxins build up over time and depending on how much tea and food you drink and eat that has buttercup in it, the faster or slower you die. The reason why you turn yellow is because the toxins in the buttercup turn you yellow," as she spoke, Kimora became more and more convinced that she was right and so did Hiroshi. What she was saying made sense.

"Is there any way to cure the villagers that are sick already? I don't think the villagers will be happy with me since it was I who suggested that we use the abundant buttercups instead of growing the things that we needed," Hiroshi's tone was one of regret and Kimora understood.

"If you give them all some of this then they'll be themselves in no time," when she handed him a large package of leaves he gave her a confused look, "You have to make tea out of it and they'll be fine. It's a counter poison for the toxins in the buttercups," she explained.

"How can I ever thank you enough?" Hiroshi asked. "No need to I think I'll be thanked multiple times judging from the number of villagers outside. That is, if you tell them the good news. Oh and the children can still play in the fields, just make sure they don't eat any more of the buttercups," she winked at him as she said this and she sauntered out the door smiling.

By the time that she had reached the gates, the announcement had already been made and just like she had predicted, Kimora had been thanked more times than she could count. It just made her happy that she had helped out more people. She smiled to herself as she walked towards the buttercup field and she waved to the villagers one last time before she stepped onto the buttercup field path.

**A/N: there it is! Let me know if there's anything you liked or didn't like in this chapter which means…I'll be expecting reviews! :P**

**Michnelle**


	3. author's note

**A/N: I'm sorry to say that I have officially given up on this fanfic, I'm sure any of you who started reading this thought so as well. I don't know why but somehow mushishi doesn't hold the same pull it once did. I'm sorry if I disappointed anyone, needless to say I'm pretty disappointed in myself as well for not being able to finish my first story…ahahaha. If you've decided that you now hate me for giving up on something that's okay too ^^**


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